


december 15th: when the time is right

by watergator



Series: december fic advent 2019 [15]
Category: Phandom/The Fantastic Foursome (YouTube RPF)
Genre: Adoption, Dogs, Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-15
Updated: 2019-12-15
Packaged: 2021-02-26 16:33:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,270
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21811324
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/watergator/pseuds/watergator
Summary: prompt: shiba-corgidan and phil go to a dog shelter
Relationships: Dan Howell/Phil Lester
Series: december fic advent 2019 [15]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1559341
Comments: 3
Kudos: 79





	december 15th: when the time is right

The swipes upwards with his thumb, a plethora of google images whiz past him, ones he’s all seen before. Dog after dog after dog. They’re all cute; with their tongues hanging out and their sweet little faces, but there’s one in particular that Phil enjoys.

He stops like his brain automatically knows where it is at this point, and Phil finds himself grinning rather hard as he looks at the photo.

There’s a gruff voice behind him that startled him for a moment before large, warm hands begin squeezing at his shoulders. “You living through your google images dream again?” Dan asks.

Phil’s only just able to crook his neck up and around to peer up at Dan from where he’s tucked up on the sofa. He’s still in his pyjamas and his hair is a wild, curly mess; he’s the image of sleepiness as he rubs at his eye with a knuckle.

“Morning to you too,” Phil says, turning back to the phone before he breaks his neck. “And yes I am, thank you. It helps me get through the day.”

He hears Dan give a crackled hum, something along the lines of amusement.

“And what does today consist of?” He asks, giving Phil’s shoulders another gentle squeeze, letting them roll and relax at the touch.

Phil looks away from his phone to think. Then he shrugs.

“Dunno. Nothing today,” he says looking back at his phone to scroll some more. “Play all the Skyrim your heart desires, my love.”

Dan whines before he’s flopping onto Phil, curving his upper body over the back of the sofa, making Phil give a surprised shriek as he’s subjected to half of Dan’s body weight crushing him.

“I’m bored,” Dan whines, simply ignoring Phil’s cries as he tries to escape him.

Eventually Phil’s able to get free, standing up to see where Dan’s somehow fallen over the sofa to take his spot, sprawled out, limbs everywhere like he’s some sort of drunk.

Phil wonders how he manages it at his age; throwing his body around, curving it and twisting himself up into uncomfortable positions, without so much as popping a joint or hurting his back. He smiles, knowing thirty is around the corner for him, and soon enough his spine won’t be so kind to let him flop around like a fish, especially over Phil.

“I said I’m bored,” Dan says again. His voice sounds clearer this time like he’s properly woken up and he has a little line between his eyebrows where their knitted together as he gets no response.

“You’re a toddler,” Phil says with a laugh.

Dan only frowns harder. “What are we doing today then?” 

Phil sighs, shifting his weight from one foot to the other as he thinks.

Project Sphere had been going well so far. Educated trip and days out was actually starting to become enjoyable, and less like a chore to get out of the house. Neither of them had realised how much they had enjoyed art and galleries and the beauty of it all until they’d stepped outside and pretended to be interested, until they were. 

Dan even had a fancy turtleneck for the occasion.

If didn't mean, however, that this newfound appreciation of art was going to stop them pointing out each dog they found, in real life or in any painting. Old habit do die hard, even when Bryony called them  _ tasteless _ .

But they’d exhausted every gallery and every exhibition in their area. Art was great, and hanging out with Dan was even greater, but if Phil has to stare silently at one more painted canvas, he fears he might just put his head through the dammed thing out of frustration.

“Are we going out then?” Dan asks, he’s rolled around so his legs are dangling up off the edge of the seat, his head comfortably lolled back on the cushion. 

Phil may hate art, but he doesn’t mind appreciating Dan every one and a while.

“If you want,” Phil says with another shrug. “I was just gonna live out the next hour in corgi madness but if you wanna do something we can go out,” he agrees.

He watches Dan’s face. It’s a careful face. It’s a thinking face; a face Phil knows all too well. He waits for a moment, letting Dan figure out what it is he wants to say before he’s grinning, teeth and all.

“Oh my fucking god I have the best idea.”

*

“You  _ have  _ to be restrained,” Dan tells him in the back of the cab. He’s wrapped up in his coat; it’s cold London today, not quite cold enough for snow but rather the kind of cold that’s in between and just a bit horrid.

“I don’t think I can promise that,” Phil tells him.

He feels Dan’s hand come over his knee and that’s when he realises he’s been bouncing his leg the entire car journey. He hums a small laugh.

“All I’m saying is,” Dan starts as the car starts to slow down. Phil can already feel the excitement bubble up like some sort of chemical reaction ready to explode.

“Just don’t get your hopes up, alright?” He says. The car rolls to a stop outside the shelter and Phil has to physically hold himself back from swinging the car door open and flinging himself out and making a run for the entrance.

Instead, Phil looks down at where Dan’s hand is placed on his leg, his thumb moving in little strokes even though he can’t feel it through the material of his jeans. He looks up to Dan.

“I won’t,” he says in a sincere voice. “We’re just here for… fun, right?”

Dan nods. “Right.”

*

It’s not hard to remember you’re only here for fun when you’re surrounded by so many dogs and animals all at once. Phil forgets that he’s supposed to get too attached to any little animal as soon as they’re allowed out the back to take a look.

He’s rushing to each little pen, crouching down to poke his fingers through the chain fence, even after being told not to.

He looks up at Dan who has a grin on his face.

“They’re all so cute!” He exclaims just as one of the dogs licks his palm through the fence.

Dan giggles, shoving his hands into his pockets. 

“It’s gonna be hard,” he says, kicking the ground with his shoe.

Phil looks back at the dog in the cage. It’s little tail is wagging so fast it might just take off of the ground if it keeps going. The other dogs in the next cages along are yapping and barking, all desperate for some attention and kisses.

“I know,” he sighs. His heart breaks thinking about these poor, sweet creatures, all having been left or abandoned, all unloved. Phil reckons he has enough love in his heart for all of these dogs, even if no one else will care.

“It’s gonna be hard leaving them all behind,” he mutters. “Maybe it was a bad idea coming here in the first place,” he says, looking back up at Dan with a frown.

But Dan’s still smiling. And sure, maybe he’s just being mean for the sake of being mean. But he’s never  _ this _ mean.

“Or,” Dan says, looking down the the floor before meeting eyes with Phil again. He seems to suck in a sharp breath between his teeth and puffs out his chest as if bracing for something.

“Or maybe we don’t… leave them behind.”

Phil blinks a few times as he processes Dan’s words.

“Wha?” Is all he’s able to say.

“I mean,” Dan says, “we’re here now. We might as well… pick one, don’t you think?”

Phil stands up, a little wobbly both from Dan’s suggestion as well as from where he’s been crouched down so for so long, all the blood is rushing to his head.

“What are you saying?”

Dan snorts a laugh, like he’s totally planned this, and as he watches his face, all smug and happy looking, Phil suspects that maybe he has.

“It’s just. It’s right, isn’t it?” He says in a nonchalant tone.

Phil swallows thickly. He doesn’t think  _ he  _ would be the one needed to be persuaded to take a dog home today but he needs to hear Dan’s reasoning behind this, because as of now he feels totally lost and dazed.

“Dan,” Phil says softly. “We don’t have a house.”

Dan’s eyes light up. “Yet,” he says quickly. “It’s in the last stages, once it’s finished up we’ll be able to move it,” he says. “It’s only a couple of months away, maybe spring if we’re lucky.”

Phil finds himself chewing on his lip; a habit he’s most definitely picked up from Dan whenever he’s deep in thought or mulling over the ideas in his head.

“Are we ready for a dog?” He asks. It sounds ridiculous out loud; of course they aren’t. They’ve never cared for such an important creature before and sure, Norman had survived so far, they’d loved him and continued to love him. He was their child, an example of their love and dedication, more than what they could prove with their slightly brown and crispy houseplants dotted around the house.

But maybe there was no way of finding out about a dog unless they did what they always did: plunge themselves headfirst and see what was waiting on the other side.

“I think we are. You know we are. I feel like now is a good time for us, don’t you agree?”

Dan’s rocking on the balls of his feet, excitement is plastered across his face, and he has a child-like wonder about him that Phil finds utterly adorable as well as endearing.

Phil shoves his hands in his pockets, weird and crooked, just so he can stop himself leaning over and cupping Dan’s face with them right here and now.

He’ll save that for later when they’re back home again.

“Okay,” Phil says with a breath, and with that he can’t seem to tame the smile that’s tugging at his lips. “Okay, oh my god, we’re doing it, yeah?”

Dan lets out a high giggle and nods his head, he takes Phil’s hands from his pocket, fare braver than he is and gives them a squeeze.

“Yeah. Okay. Lets get a dog, hm?”

*

The ride home is full of little bursts of chatter.

Some moments their quiet, thinking in their own heads of what’s happened and what’s to come. The next they’re both turning to one another with smiles and laughter, giddy with the excitement of it all.

They’d signed the paperwork, they’d agreed to the house checks once the house was actually complete and Phil had already started making his list on Amazon of things they needed for their new little friend.

He looks to Dan who’s on his phone, smile wide and stretched from ear to ear. Phil takes him in for a moment and notices how… glowy he looks.

His fingers and working fast across his screen and Phil shifts over to take a peek.

There on the screen it the photo taken just minutes ago.

The worker at the shelter had offered to do so, asked if it was okay to post onto their Facebook and they’d both laughed and agreed as they’d picked the dog up and held her between them. She’d given them a few happy kisses before she’d stilled, only for a split second, enough time to snap a photo.

Dan’s working through a length Instagram caption, writing words that seem to just flow right out of him with pure happiness. It makes Phil’s heart squeeze in his chest and all he wants to do it fold himself into Dan and never ever let go.

“Is this okay?” Dan asks, breaking the silence as he shoves his phone under Phil’s nose.

He takes it from him and begins to read the caption despite the carsickness it might bring him. 

It’s worth it, he thinks.

_ Welcome, Cassie. In a few short months when everything is sorted out, this sweet, good girl will be coming home with us. I know she’s not the shibe or the corgi, or maybe even the shiba corgi you’d all expected from us, but we feel she’s the dog we deserve. She is the most sweetest most timid and loving girl there is and we can’t wait to give her the love and trust (and no doubt from Phil, all the treats) in the world, for the rest of our lives. We can’t wait to start this new adventure with our new member of the family, and we can’t wait to introduce her to you - honestly, prepare for cuteness overload it WILL destroy you. I can’t wait to have her here with us, where she belongs, in our family. Enough of the mushy stuff though @AmazingPhil your on dog poo duty for ever now lol xox _

Phil looks up at Dan, his vision a little blurry from where tears have settled themselves in his eyes. He blinks them away rapidly as he pulls his own phone out.

Dan’s already hit post once he opens the app and he’s quick to jab his thumb at the screen twice, liking it before anyone else has a chance. He thinks of a reply before he types it out; something quick and simple. Dan’s phone buzzes once he gets the notification.

“🐶❤️”

He looks up to see Dan grinning at him.

This really is the best decision they’ve made together. 

And it’s only really the beginning. 

**Author's Note:**

> come say hi on tumblr !! @watergator


End file.
